


blood diamond

by gossamerthoughts



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Asian Character(s), Asian-American Character, Caitlin Snow & Iris West Friendship, F/M, Female Friendship, Flash Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24905296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gossamerthoughts/pseuds/gossamerthoughts
Summary: Barry Allen is a CSI tasked to find his surrogate sister’s best friend and renowned biochemist, Dr. Cai Lin Xue. No one’s heard from her in 6 months, but there have been stories of an ice meta calling herself Blood Diamond just outside of Central City… (SnowBarry AU)
Relationships: Barry Allen & Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, Eddie Thawne/Iris West
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. the prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the hero meets his downfall.

**prologue**

_in which the hero meets his downfall._

* * *

_There are too many of them,_ Barry thinks desperately as the metas come at him, seeming to fly out of the shadows. He's never seen anything like it — he'd naively thought that Team Flash and Team Arrow were the only two superhero teams to band together.

So he'd run headfirst into the scene, thinking he'd only be facing one meta.

"Barry?" Cisco's worried voice sounds in his ear. "Barry, get out of there _now_ —"

But it's too late. Barry feels his vision begin to blur. _I'm going to die here,_ he thinks desperately.

Just before the world turns to black, he sees a glimpse of high heeled boots and a figure in silver-lined with red. _Like the red in my suit,_ he thinks hazily. He could've sworn he sees ice blue eyes and blue-black hair enter his field of vision — _was that a wink?_ — before everything becomes dark and the scent of ocean water envelopes him.


	2. the ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris needs something from Barry.

**the ask**

_Yes, of course_   
_I remember, how could I forget?_

_— "Thinkin' Bout You," Frank Ocean_

* * *

**Monday, 10:15AM. CCPD.**

Soft music is floating through his lab; Barry’s singing along absent-mindedly to his favorite musicals as he flashes from lab bench to desk to his coffee cup. Sunlight spills in through the wide windows, eliminating the need for any artificial light at all.

It’s moments like these that Barry feels at peace — moments when he’s so absorbed in his work that nothing else seems to bother him, no errant thoughts or worries, no voices —

“Bar?” a voice calls from just outside his open door.

He spins around, almost dropping his petri dish in his surprise. Iris was sneaky. “Hey,” he says, giving his best friend a huge smile. “What’re you doing here?”

Iris doesn’t smile back. Barry frowns a little, confused. Iris _always_ smiles back.

“Bar, I was wondering if you could help me with something.” It’s a statement, not really a question. Barry almost smiles again at the Iris-ness of it all (she’s always so certain, so assertive), but figures now isn’t a great time.

So he says instead, “Of course! What’s up?”

Iris crosses the threshold, her heeled boots click-clacking on the smooth wood in a way that’s strangely foreboding. She places a picture on his desk, one Barry’s seen on Iris’s Instagram before. Her fingers tap an almost-impatient rhythm on the desk. Against the photo, her dark red nails remind him a little of blood.

Barry shakes his head to clear it. _Why was he having all these depressing thoughts all of a sudden?_

“You remember Caity, right? My best friend from college?”

 _Of course_ Barry remembers.

Cait, or Cai Lin, as her parents named her, was one of those people that didn’t quite seem real. Barry only had eyes for Iris during college really, but Iris and Cait were inseparable. The “Perfect Duo,” people called them — and it was fitting. Both women were ambitious, talented, driven; Iris steadily climbed her way up the media ladder and made a name for herself in investigative journalism while Cait managed to get not just one, but _two_ Ph.Ds _and_ finish med school in less time than it usually took for someone to get just their Masters.

But it wasn’t just that. No, both girls had to be _pretty_ (Barry had heard some jealous girls whispering in the halls, giving his friends the side-eye, and had seen some awestruck boys nearly drooling as the pair walked by). Cait’s hair was pin straight, so black it was almost blue, while Iris’s brown-black hair curled softly in waves. Iris taught Cait how to box (thanks to Joe), and both girls fell into the sport as a way to relieve stress — they could often be seen sparring, holding mitts for each other (or Joe would hold for both of them when he visited), hitting the bag, or running laps around CCU. Iris had power while Cait had speed, but no one could deny that both girls were badasses.

They strangely complemented each other like that; two opposites that seemed to fit.

Neither Cait nor Iris dated in college, to Barry’s dismay. Though he heard whispers that those two were a little _too_ close to be just friends, Barry had a feeling that it was because they were too busy shining and creating a life for themselves.

But Barry had somehow eased his way into their orbit (he supposed it was by default, since Iris was his best friend _first_ , after all) and he’d become fairly close with Cait. She’d even teased him about his feelings for Iris and tried to convince him to tell the girl how he felt, but even Cait’s persuasiveness couldn’t sway him.

After college, Cait had taken a job back in China, where she was working on a top-secret project. Barry wasn’t sure if it was literally called a “top-secret project” or if that’s just what Iris called it, but he did notice that the two girls FaceTimed less and less as the time went on.

A small hand appears in front of his face, waving. “Barry? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, spaced out,” Barry says, pulling himself back from his walk down memory lane. “Yeah, I remember Cait. Is she okay?”

“Well, here’s the thing. Apparently she left whatever she was working on in Shanghai six months ago, didn’t tell anyone where she was going, and just disappeared. She didn’t tell me either. But I have a source that tells me she was seen in Central City just a few weeks ago… but then nothing. Her parents are really worried.”

“Wait, a missing persons case? Yeah, isn’t this Joe’s job?”

“My dad’s working on a homicide case right now and he thought you could take this one. I know you’re in forensics, but since you _know_ Caity, I thought you could help. Her parents don’t want to open an official case — honestly, I think they refuse to believe she’s really _missing_ , but I have a gut feeling something’s wrong, Bar.”

Barry tears his eyes away from the picture of Iris and Cait laughing in their dorm room and meets Iris’s gaze. Her brown eyes are glistening, and he knows she’s seconds away from crying. “Hey,” he says softly, standing and pulling her into a hug. “Of course I’ll do anything I can. In fact, I have a guy who just might be able to help…”

That triggers the tears; Barry feels them soak through his button-down. He rubs Iris’s back soothingly before letting go. “Do you have any other info for me?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’ve been doing some digging myself. Eddie and I will stop by later tonight to drop it off.” She wipes her eyes and pats herself down, looking once more like the put-together woman she was. “Thank you, Barry,” she says as she walks out.

Barry looks back down at the photograph, thinking. Iris was right; something didn’t feel right about this. But Cait was always a little… withdrawn, even around him and Iris. She’d have moments when she’d hide in her room for hours, refusing to come out or talk to anyone. Sometimes, he’d catch her crying softly in the bathroom when she thought everyone else was out. He never said anything, but made sure to hug her extra tight on those days. He wasn’t quite sure if she’d caught on, but neither addressed it.

With a sigh, Barry runs a finger over the photo, remembering the good times they had. He picks up his phone and speed dials the first contact. “Hey. Can you help me with something? We’re looking for a missing person…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I've never gone *this* AU before, so thoughts are much appreciated :) This Caitlin is meant to have pretty much the same personality as the one we all know and love, but with a different backstory/storyline.


	3. the gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash assembles to help Barry.

**the gathering**

_ So alive  
_ _ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky _

_ — “Diamonds,” Rihanna _

* * *

**Monday, 11AM. S.T.A.R. Labs.**

“Hey man!” Cisco calls enthusiastically as Barry flashes in, not seeming to mind the papers that have flown off his desk in Barry’s wake.

“Hey, Cisco.” Barry smiles at his friend, then looks over at the man in the wheelchair. “Hey, Dr. Wells.”

The older man gives him a nod, his piercing blue eyes unreadable. “I hear you have a case for us, Mr. Allen.”

“Yeah, so Iris’s, well actually kinda my friend too from college, her name is Cait and she’s like really smart —” Barry realizes he’s rambling and stops for a second, clearing his throat. “Ok, let me start over. Dr. Cai Lin Xue was last heard from in Shanghai six months ago but last seen in Central City two weeks ago from an unknown source. No one’s spoken to her, though, and apparently she was working on something top-secret when she was in China. Iris thinks she’s been kidnapped.” Iris hadn’t  _ said _ as much, but the fear in her eyes when she gave Barry the photo had said enough.

“Oh, yes. I know Dr. Cai Lin,” Wells says thoughtfully. “Graduated with two Ph.Ds and a medical degree, expert biochemist and geneticist. Daughter of Dr. Zuan Shi Xue and Dr. Carla Tannhauser, who own Xue Labs and Tannhauser Industries, respectively.”

Barry and Cisco stare at Wells open-mouthed. Wells shrugs. “I make it my business to know the best and the brightest. I was unfortunately unable to recruit her for S.T.A.R. Labs, which is a pity. I think she would’ve been an asset to our team.”

“Uh, yeah, so Iris is bringing me what she’s gathered so far tonight, but I figured in the meantime we could run facial recognition and see if there are any hits from the satellites?”

“On it, my man!” Cisco grins and flashes him a thumbs up.

Barry nods and flashes back to the precinct, still mulling about the case in his head. Something didn’t quite add up…

* * *

**Monday, 12:15PM. CCPD.**

_ CISCO: dude come back here i got something CRAAAAAZY you gotta see _

_ BARRY: IS IT MY NEW SUIT??? _

_ CISCO: oh. no that’s not done yet _

_ BARRY: wtf cisco _

_ CISCO: ok ive been working hard on finding your missing person!! she’s hot btw _

_ BARRY: ugh _

_ CISCO: dude are you blind _

_ BARRY: no ur right she’s hot but we need to FIND her _

_ CISCO: oh yeah that’s what i meant to tell you. FOUND HER. _

* * *

Barry nearly drops his phone in surprise. Well, he  _ did  _ drop it, but his superspeed allowed him to catch it before it shattered. Perks of being a superhero, he supposes. Not paying Apple to fix yet another cracked screen.

Without another word, he flashes over to S.T.A.R. Labs, curious to see what Cisco’s found. His friend didn’t seem worried at all.

In fact, he seemed… excited?

* * *

**Monday, 12:16PM. S.T.A.R. Labs.**

“I really gotta get some paperweights,” Cisco mutters as all his papers go flying again.

“Sorry,” Barry says sheepishly.

“ _ So, _ ” Cisco says, waving Barry’s apology off. “It turns out Cai Lin — wait, did you call her Cait?”

“I did, but she really only let me call her Cait, and Iris calls her Caity,” Barry replies with a shrug.

“Oh. Okay, fine. Cai Lin’s just a mouthful.”

Barry just  _ looks _ at him and Cisco puts his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay,” the long-haired man says. “Anyways, Cai Lin  _ did  _ popup in Central City two weeks ago at this frozen food warehouse. It looks like it might’ve belonged to a relative of hers? But all our facial recognition has actually been picking her up in  _ Keystone _ . What’s crazier is that when we do heat-mapping, her cryo-signature is  _ thirty degrees below freezing. _ Plus…” Cisco begins a drumroll on his desk.

“Stop that!” Wells yells from somewhere in the labs.

Cisco stops as if he’s been electrocuted. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “There’s a meta named Blood Diamond who’s been stealing things in Keystone for the past few weeks. Apparently, she has ice powers.”

Barry frowns. “So… are you trying to say Cait’s turned into a meta version of Elsa who steals things? She wasn’t even here when the accelerator exploded.”

“I think she’s looking for something,” Cisco says. “She’s not stealing jewelry or robbing banks; she’s stealing  _ chemicals. _ ”

Barry scrubs a hand over his face. “But why wouldn’t she just go to her parents’ labs?”

Cisco shrugs. “Beats me, man. Also, I didn’t name her. She named herself. Though… it’s pretty obvious. Her last name could mean ‘snow’ in Chinese…  _ or  _ it could mean ‘blood.’ And her dad’s first name literally translates to ‘diamond’ in English.”

“Okay, so what are we supposed to do about this? Where’s she staying? Should I just flash in or —”

Suddenly, the monitors beep. Cisco looks up at Barry. “Meta alert. We have a diamond heist — wow, a  _ real-life diamond heist  _ — at Charlie’s Jewelers.”

“On it.” Barry flashes into his suit, picks up his comms, and is out the door before Cisco can even blink twice.


	4. the reckoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry meets his match.

**the reckoning**

_ I'm drowning in the night  
_ _ When I'm like this, you're the one I trust _

_ — “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd _

* * *

**Monday, 12:31PM, Charlie’s Jewelers.**

Charlie’s is quiet. Too quiet for a jewelry store that was supposedly being robbed. He skids to a stop in the middle of the store, surveying his surroundings. The store looked like it was closed; there was nothing smashed and nothing looked like it was missing —

All of a sudden, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye. A woman with purple hair breaks fiberglass case after case, pocketing the diamonds, but she seems to move like mist — each time Barry flashes to her, she’s a purple vapor swirling around him.

He snatches at thin air each time, frustrated.  _ Is this what it’s like to fight me?  _ he wonders briefly, before seeing Misty (Cisco was going to have to come up with a better nickname) make her way out of the shop.

As fast as she is, he manages to trace her back to an abandoned warehouse. It seems to be one for storing frozen foods, as far as he can tell.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Flash.” Misty’s looking down at him from her perch on top of a pallet of frozen goods.” Her eyes were purple too and shining with mirth.

“Give back the diamonds you took,” he demands.

“Doesn’t work like that, pretty boy,” she coos, batting her eyelashes at him.

With a snarl, he flashes up to her, but she’s already gone. This time, she’s sitting on the side of a box, legs dangling carelessly over the edge. “Too slow,” she smirks.

He tries again, to no avail.

“As fun as this is, I have some other friends who want to play,” she says, and shadows start moving out of the dark recesses of the warehouse.

_ Why is it always the abandoned warehouses with these meta-villains?  _ he thinks, a little annoyed, before turning his attention to the fight at hand.

A man with a snake for an eye pops in front of him, the snake hissing as it lunges for Barry’s face. Barry manages to flash out of the way, only to be caught by a guy in a creepy clown mask, whose very body seems to defy the laws of physics. The man bends this way and that, wrapping Barry up in his own  _ arms.  _ “Hello, Flash,” the clown face drawls.

_ God, I hate clowns. _

“My turn!” a high-pitched voice squeals, as a little girl with pink hair makes her way toward him. She surveys him as she approaches, then looks at Clown-face. “Let him go for a sec.”

Barry thinks that this is it, this is his chance, but the girl unleashes a  _ storm _ of pink wind; the gales blow him back into the wall. He crumples... and the metas keep coming.

He had run into a trap.

_ There are too many of them, _ Barry thinks desperately as the metas come at him, seeming to fly out of the shadows. He's never seen anything like it — he'd naively thought that Team Flash and Team Arrow were the only two superhero teams to band together.

"Barry?" Cisco's worried voice sounds in his ear. "Barry, get out of there now —"

But it's too late. Barry feels his vision begin to blur.  _ I'm going to die here, _ he thinks desperately.

Just before the world turns to black, he sees a glimpse of high heeled boots and a figure in silver-lined with red. _ Like the red in my suit, _ he thinks hazily. He could've sworn he sees ice blue eyes and familiar blue-black hair enter his field of vision —  _ was that a wink? _ — before everything becomes dark and the scent of ocean water envelopes him.


	5. the reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry finds out the identity of his savior (or is it captor?).

**the reunion**

_ And I've grown familiar with villains that live in my head  
_ _ They beg me to write them so I'll never die when I'm dead _

_ — “Control,” Halsey _

* * *

**Monday, 6:07PM. Blood Diamond’s hideout.**

It’s cold.

That’s the first thing that registers in Barry’s mind as he claws his way out of darkness, willing his eyes to open and his tired muscles to move.

It’s bone-chillingly, freezing  _ cold. _

“Hello, Barry,” a soft voice says as he’s finally able to wrench his eyes open.

He turns his neck so fast, he thinks he’s almost pulled something. But at the same time, it wasn’t as fast as it should’ve been… Barry looks down at the meta-dampening cuffs on his wrists and finds the answer to his unspoken thought.

By the time his eyes trail up to meet the voice, he’s no longer shocked by what he sees. It’s Cait — but so, so different. Instead of her typical bright-colored skirt and top combo, she’s outfitted in a head-to-toe suit that’s as tight as his own. It skims over her curves, the silver material almost shimmering in the near darkness. As he squints, he sees it — the thin lines of red that thread through the suit, the same color as his own Flash red. Cait’s hair is still as he remembered, straight and long and black-blue, but her eyes — her eyes are no longer the warm cinnamon brown he remembered. Instead, they’re the color of frost, of barely translucent ice. Blue, blue, blue. And cold.

“Miss me?” she grins, her lips painted a deep, dark red. The color of blood.

“Cait?” is all he can manage. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“Hmmm… is that any way to greet an old friend?” She wags a finger at him. “Tsk, tsk, Barry. I thought Iris taught you better than that.”

“She really misses you, you know,” Barry says, trying to make sense of this girl before him. She was Cait, but she also  _ wasn’t _ at the same time. Maybe if Cait were bitchier and also had no filter.

“She’s moved on, Barry,” Cait sighs. “And so should you. Don’t tell me you’re  _ still _ hung up on perfect Miss West.”

“I —I’m not,” Barry stammers. They both know it’s a lie. Though he may not be as obsessed as he was in college, he still entertains thoughts of him and Iris getting married more often than he’d like to admit.

“Mhmmm.” Her lips curve up, her smile widening to show a row of snow-white teeth. “The easiest lies are the ones we tell ourselves.”

“Cait, what are you  _ doing?  _ And how did you get powers? You were in China when the accelerator exploded, so they must’ve come from somewhere else, unlike our metas. And why am I here?”

“Oh Barry, Barry. One question at a time. I’ll go backward.” She holds up a finger. “One, you’re here because I  _ saved _ you from those crazy metas. Don’t worry, I took care of them for you.”

He looks at her warily.

“I didn’t  _ kill _ them. Just… froze them in place.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “Someone will find them eventually.”

She holds up another finger. “Two, the particle accelerator didn’t give me my powers.”

“How —”

“Don’t interrupt. That’s rude.” Her blue eyes narrow, and Barry feels a chill run down his spine. She was joking, but there was none of the easy warmth that had been in their jokes before.

She holds up a third finger. “Now, three. I’m trying to build a lab of my own — I need to create a compound for my powers to reach their full potential, something that I can use even when I’m Cait and not Blood Diamond.”

_ Blood Diamond.  _ Barry runs the name through his mind, wants to let it roll off his tongue. It’s catchy, he’ll give her that. Much more impressive than “The Flash,” if he has to admit. It seems carefully chosen, though it’s very  _ not _ subtle for a superhero (or villain, he supposes. He doesn’t want to think too much about it). It’s far too easy for someone to discover who’s behind the… well, he can’t even say “mask,” because Blood Diamond doesn’t wear one. It’s like she  _ wants _ to be discovered, it’s like she’s flaunting her invincibility in her transparency. Like she has no loved ones she wants to protect by hiding her identity.

Maybe she  _ is  _ a villain after all. Villains don’t need to hide their identity because the superheroes would never go after the ones they love. It’s not what heroes do.

His thoughts still as his eyes refocus and he finds Cait staring at him curiously. For a moment, he feels like a specimen in her lab.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing,” she replies easily. “You know, if I was  _ boring _ you, Flash, you should’ve said something. Don’t worry, I’ll make this spicy for you.” She grins — there’s no warmth in it though — and tugs his arm to pull him up onto his feet. “Come on, we have work to do.”


	6. the operation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's late, and Barry's hungry.

**the operation**

_ Second, third, and hundredth chances  
_ _ Balancin' on breaking branches  
_ _ Those eyes add insult to injury _

_ — “Exile,” Taylor Swift _

* * *

**Monday, 10:52 PM. Blood Diamond’s hideout.**

“I’m hungry,” Barry whines as he puts the test tubes on the centrifuge for what feels like the millionth time that night. “And sleepy. Do you have a bed for me, or are we working all night?”

Cait glares at him, icy blue eyes icier than usual. “Stop being a baby.”

“I’m not!” he protests. “I just need to eat very regularly. Superfast metabolism and all that. Ya know?”

She sighs, sounding so much like the Cait he used to know that a smile slips its way onto his face. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll cook.”

“What?” he jokes. “Don’t want delivery guys showing up at your super-secret hideout?”

“Okay,” she said. “ _ You _ can cook then. But no funny business.” She points him to a corner of the chilly building. It looks like a mini apartment is set up there, complete with a full kitchen.

“Do you do much cooking?” he asks curiously.

“Yeah… it’s therapeutic,” she says absently, still surveying the contents of their test tubes intently.

He hmms in response and gets to work making the only thing he really knows how to — pancakes.

They’re digging into them twenty minutes later (it makes  _ much _ longer without his super-speed, Barry realizes). Barry’s drizzling his copiously with maple syrup, shoving butter generously between each pancake, and creates a melted chocolate lake at the base.

Cait raises an eyebrow as she neatly adds a pat of butter on top of her stack and a squirt of honey, along with a handful of fresh blueberries.

“What?” he asks, mouth full. He’s  _ so so so  _ hungry.

“Nothing.” She grins, and it’s like the sudden peace after a snowstorm. “Some things never change, do they?”

He remembers their late-night study sessions, when he’d offer to make her pancakes and she’d laugh at the absolute sugar-fest his plate would be. But his pancakes always turned out delicious, and they always smiled at each other with lips sticky with syrup. He’d wondered sometimes if she’d taste like the honey she was so fond of.

She clears her throat, breaking the moment. “Let’s clean up, then go to sleep. I have a cot for you.”

“Do you have clothes as well?”

Her glare is back. “I didn’t  _ plan _ to capture you, you know.”

He glares right back. “Didn’t you?”

“Okay, fine. But no, I do not have male clothes lying around here, especially not ones that can fit a lanky string bean.”

“I’m not lanky! Or a string bean!”

“I’ll buy something for you tomorrow. But for you, get cozy in your Flash suit, Flash.”

He grumbles. “I’m  _ not _ sleeping in full-body latex.”

“Fine, then strip down to your undies.”

He colors; she turns away. “Good night, Flash.”

“Night, Cait,” he mumbles. He wishes she’d turn around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun with this one, hehe :) This story is turning out to have much shorter chapters than my others, mostly because the plot isn't fully formed in my head yet (sorry!). But hope you enjoy xo


	7. the wake up call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry gets awoken in the most unfortunate way.

**Tuesday, 7:00AM. Blood Diamond’s hideout.**

She wakes him up with an ice bath to the face.

Literally.

She has dumped a  _ goddamn pail of water _ on his head and used her powers to transform half the water into very hard, very sharp, very cold chunks of ice.

Definitely on Barry Allen’s top five worst ways to wake up. He prefers slow mornings (probably why he’s always late), prefers hitting  _ snooze _ too many times to count, prefers the adrenaline that comes with the danger of being  _ just a tad late. _

But no, Caitlin Xue was never one for late risers. She’s always up at the crack of dawn, no alarm needed. If her personality was more chipper, it’d be deeply annoying, but she’s a quiet morning person, which Barry appreciates.

That is, before ice-cold water was dumped on his head.

He was  _ never _ going to let that one go.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she says sweetly. She’s dressed in normal clothes today, option for black jeans and a white tank instead of her skintight suit. A red ruby nestles at the base of her throat, secured there by a black silk ribbon acting as a choker.

“I thought you preferred diamonds?” he asks nonchalantly.

She glares. “I _am_ the diamond,  Flash . I prefer rubies. Well, anything red, really. Gotta live up to the  _ blood _ part of my name.”

He’s quiet. Nothing you can really say to that.

“Soooo,” he says, breaking the silence after a long beat, “why’d you wake me up so rudely? And so  _ early? _ ” The petulant whine is back. Seems like he can’t stop acting like twenty-year-old college Barry around her, which is a little problematic. “Also, I’m really cold. I’m half-naked, can’t vibrate to warm myself up, and you just doused me in freezing cold water. Unnecessarily.”

She smirks, red lips (he supposes she was up early enough to put makeup on) twisting amusedly. “Because it was fun.” Her gaze travels down, taking in the fact that he is indeed very cold, almost naked, and standing indignantly in her space, effectively towering over her.

It  _ was _ a little funny.

“Need some help warming up?” she asks, her smirk still in full effect.

He swallows. Hard. “Heh, what?”

“I have a shower that has hot water.”

“Oh. Ohhhhhh. Oh. Yep, yeah, yeah that would be great. OkaythanksCait!” he rambles on, then darts in the direction she’s looking.

“Wait, I need to get you clothes and a towel —” she starts, then sighs. Hopefully he takes a long time getting warmed up.


	8. the guilty pleasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry's quite speedy at nearly everything he does... except for one thing.

**Tuesday, 7:35AM. Blood Diamond’s hideout.**

Barry is very speedy at almost everything he does, but he has a penchant for long showers. Something about the warm water always relaxes him, allows him to think a bit more clearly. It’s his own form of meditation, and since he isn’t paying the water bill here at Cait’s hideout ( _ does  _ _ she _ _ pay bills? _ he wonders idly), he decides to take his sweet time.

His form of petty revenge for being rudely awoken, one could say.

It’s been maybe twenty minutes (time is weird when you have superspeed and suddenly, you don’t), and he hasn’t quite thought of a plan to get out of here yet, though he’s not entirely sure he  _ wants _ to. Sure, being cuffed and blocked from his speed sucks, but he strangely enjoys the time he’s spending with Cait.

_ Blood Diamond _ , he corrects himself.

He’s just beginning to form some semblance of a plan when her voice startles him. “Barry?” she calls, the high pitch carrying easily.

“Yeah?” he responds, turning off the shower.

“I have your — oh…” she trails off as she tries  _ very _ hard not to turn red. “I have clothes for you, and a towel,” she says weakly, as she makes very pointed eye contact.

It’s then he realizes that he has not a stitch of clothing on, and has wandered  _ out of the goddamn bathroom in his post-shower haze. _

“Heh,” he says, ruffling his hand over his hair in embarrassment. He reaches for the clothes and towel and she draws her hand back so quickly she drops everything she’s holding.

They both bend down to pick it up; she snorts at the typicality of it all. “It’s like a bad rom com,” she cackles.

He looks affronted. “I love rom coms.”

“I know,” she says, eyes softening. “Uh, Barry. You’re still naked.”

“Oh… right.” He grabs the clothes for real this time, wraps the towel around his waist, and heads back into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Through the thick layer of wood, he can just make out Cait mumbling, “Oh my  _ god. _ ”

Well, that changes things.


	9. the rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash makes some moves.

**Tuesday, 7:40AM. Blood Diamond’s hideout.**

They’re barely out the door when Caitlin stumbles; Barry looks askance at her because it’s usually  _ him _ who’s crashing into things.

And then the thing she stumbled over explodes, and the world goes black.

When he comes to, he’s back in STAR Labs, and his meta-dampening cuffs are off. Instead, they’re on the one and only Blood Diamond herself, lying unconscious in the bed next to him.

“Sorry, only had one gurney, bro,” Cisco says apologetically, throwing his hands up in surrender. “Though… she’s pretty, so I guess you’re welcome?”

Barry snorts uncomfortably, then narrows his eyes. “That explosion… was that you?”

His friend looks ashamed. “Dr. Wells said it was the safest way to get you out of there alive.”

“You tried to blow us up!” Barry yelped.

“Well, once we got those babies off of you —” Cisco juts his head toward the cuffs — “your super healing kicked in.”

“What about her?”

“I may have done some heavy research into cryogenetics, and we kept the cuffs off of her long enough for her healing to kick in too. Just not as speedy as you, you know?”

And right on cue, Caitlin wakes up, elbows Barry  _ hard _ in the side, and sits up straight. “Where the hell am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, idk why I can't make these chapters longer - I got into balancing far too many fanfics tbh. Chugging along slowly but steadily, my friends!


End file.
